by Robert Barr

Created on: December 14, 2011   Last Updated: December 20, 2011

During the American spring, you'll witness a plethora of different flowers emerge out of the vast Californian desert floor, in a variety of different shapes, colours and sizes. Some flowers you will see are as follows:

Owl's Clover

This wildflower is native to the south-western United States, including the state of California, and can be found where it has been introduced.

This species is annually around a foot tall. It grows out of the desert floors with a hairy stem. It is generally characterised by its thready leaves, and brightly-coloured, purple/lavender flowers. This wildflower is recognised as a hemiparasite, which means that much of its required nutrients come from the roots of other plants, resulting in its unusually small leaves.

Gilia

A wildflower that is typical of the western United States, and a member of the genus that involves 25 to 50 species of Polemoniaceae.

Gilia are herbaceous annuals that tend to grow from 10-120 cm in height. The flowers that these plants produce are characterised by 5 lobes, in blue, white, pink or yellow. The leaves are small, and spirally arranged. Gilia are used as food plants by the larvae of various other species, particularly those of the Lepidoptera family.

Oenothera

A genus of about 125 different herbaceous species - all of which are native to the Americas. These species will vary wildly in size, from alpine plants, which only reach 10 cm in height, to the massive lowland species which reach up to 3 metres.

The leaves of these flowers will always form a rosette at the bottom of the plant, and spiral upwards. The flowers of most native desert species are white, and will bloom within a single evening. Flowers will also appear widely in yellow and range of other colours. The branches of the oenothera distinctively form an x shape, which makes it instantly recognisable.

California poppy

The California poppy is a perennial and annual wildflower, native to the United States, and globally recognised as the official state flower of California.

It usually grows form 5 to 60 cm in height. The leaves are distinctively round and lobbed. The flowers, which bloom on long stems, are made up of four segments, each petal 2 to 4 cm in length. The colour of the flower will range from yellow to orange. Interestingly, the petals close at night, so not to face the desert cold. It grows well in disturbed areas.

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